>> this morning on arly today, btere battlers. the fierce struggle against wildres in california turns deadly for fifighters. >>diing fclues. cadaver dogs are called in in the stunning cse of a woman heldapte fo nely two dedes. a danerin they. osn polandoo s a stunt fig go horribly ong, endin in a plume o stunt fig go horribly ong, endin in a plume o smoe.

captions paid r by nbc-uversal television hlo andood orni, evyo. i' d kloeffr. and today we begin with a wildfire brning a direcons. over 200 fireghrs from acrs cifornia ha cnverged aroundhis dadly ble know the station fire. it's aragingnfer at i ryuch t contlthis morng. as c's jay gra ports, a gnificant ange in the weather iunftunately n expected forseveral das. reporter: this mning tngs ar abit tougher f cre in the oothil o loangeles. no fightgnot only e flames but the emotns at comewi sing two of thr own,wo los angescounty firefiters he ied btling t staon fire it cties togrow. ueled a seeming endless pply of dried out bush and timbe t blazeaslrea scored more an35,000 acrs. he flam swalling mo than twoozen struures a csing

in on a mny as 12,0 more. >> wasust red all er. lou could seeas alack mountain and r flam. >> port: fire tes sruggle to potec what ty can. > runs right up the back of the hes. at's wte're seeingight now, very errat fir behavio. >> repte and th wor mothenature couldunash anothereaonn this fht. >> it cou bl this fire a over t place an give challenges to firigers that wee nocurreny havin we have o hand full forsure. >>eporr: ews already strehed pastheir mits. ay gray, nbc news, losngeles. pi in grgia areow turni tthe public for any ads to a mass murder i a trailerom lst week thatas ju cimed its eighth viim. a 19-year-old m died suay, leecavin o known survor of is attac that perso in citical condio investigors arereleasing litt infmation on the case, includin how the viimsere

lled orny possible mote. theylso don't know he killerr kills emain on t ose. the manhoreported that attk has asonot been ruledutn e case. he's being hld on arges of tamperingith idence, lying to police, a illegal sssion rescriptio drugs and maruana. in ath distbing crime scen pole california are comng throughhe backyard of a cple charged wthkidnappi an 11-year-d gir bk in 1991. e was ld captive fo 20 yers in makeshi cament, forc toav two children with thesusc using cadaver dog police are ex expandngheir search a neighboring propety whe garrido worked as a caregiv. meahilethe kiapping vtim d herhildren arecering. garriife are h wife are eading not guiy in tha se. n here's a look a her storiesaking news "early

day" in americ tornad used mor along a ha me retch where it uched dow 9mie-pehour ltoats stackeagainsone anoth or beached on land. tveelsnk. fortately no repots of an injie > a -year-old hik was reued tnessee five day after getting lo. th wayward backpack was nmaiaay theman dided te evrything righ wting a p a ridge and i a llow tarp to sial rescuers. intas,another survival story. three bters straned at seas beat theods. f three days th were o top a catamaran. it shows howungry tey we afr ing at s for aweak. ey wer on aovernight fishing trip when the boat

overturned. >> i new yo, tousand turnedut to celebrate what wld he en michae jackson' 51st birthday. broklyn's prpect par w pake with fans dawni white gloves ear to dnce the ki of pop. spke lee organized that birday ibe. and no for a lokathe naional and the rgional weher, here's nbc meeorolost bl kans with the weher chnel forect. hey, bi, good morning. good moning, dan. that fi fortunely will be tou t fight. the tmperaturesre warmn l. it's ingo bedifficult. we saw 100-gree tperatures into t weekend. this mning the l is only 75 th fifighters aren't getti a break ring the eving our today the high wl 91 degrees. rin ithe frecast and no cooleather th. th cl weatr,hat's up here frothgreat lakes intonew engld. eyou wake up thimorning you feel a big difrence in the ai mass it's rlly changed.

wpointsav dropped sinificaly. it feel like fl out there from atlantaorthrd up through bosto new york, troit, eveland, pittsburgh bualo, sacuse. se areasay want a lig jack. on t of that,e ve litt bit of light rainver the arinas and southrn rginia. anhererom nvilleto raigh, charlte,ight shower acivit virginia beac isetting a little drerhing "rly today." 69 a showers today in charlte. that's a lookt yur tion forast. now hre's a lk at the weaer outdeour window evenith suhinetoy, the hhill on be degrees bulington, vermt. nohernew gland, very cool. rtford,coeccut, a beak om mmer7 a lo of wet weather from south carolina toeorgi dan, tt's a look your mond forecast. anyou an fe it when you went oside today. 's justdifferent. >>o say t least. ou're otweatin out buckets.

gethe light jacke thanyou, bill. >>shanghaitumbles, what to exect th week. an theolice payut. your eay morning bsine headlines arestraight ahd. plus, wer you beg trked down by death this weekd, a th box offce thais. >>ayutler returns t denr, zch is a pay forhe mariners,ndaliforn srikes gold i theittle lgueorld series. you're wahing "rly toy."

> good morng, anwelcome back t"earlyoday." m dan kloeffr. hee e somef yo top headnes this mning. pace shuttle "scover and its crew ofeven areafe and soundt t intnatial scestatn, delivering thoands ofpoundsf eqipment, fd, anoutgr for e post. a nauftswill perfm thr space walksuring tir nine-day stay. > unecente politica unheefl hit pan afterlection

results showhe de krat rty trouncing thdecrats. heeader of the democrats prmised to pvide theworld's secondarge economy i sialhaem sial. a vit that ma fear cou hurt th island iproving relions withival china. budist spiritual leader denied an poitic and as he bga to,quot pely hanitaran ission alloomfort victims taiwan'sors sto in 50 yes. >>poe iss officials a investigating a air sho crash thatkilled two pilots suay. a ane turned in the air, then oppi behind trees. while e ofcial cause is no known, oneofficial suspected a ssibleir ri. >> and n here's a ok at how all streetill kick o the day

heow dropped 36 points on friday. s&p lost 2 points. nasdaqudge up 1 int. taki alo overseas trding ts morning, the kee fell41 points, wile the han se trped up374 poin. the queson of glob econoic recove i sll a pret major case for onrn china's mainindex dropped6%o a thremont low toda shanghailifted sres and now onrack topost lossesof 21% august, only the scond month thatheomposi inde has flen 20%n the last 15 yea. >> back me, investorsill be lookg tohake off chnaas well a friday's bleak rad o nsuerentiment no at a four-nlow. >> while spendin edg slhtly due t cash fo ue urchases. > upbeat earnings om tel. teraising its third quarter

revenue. tiffa&company sa tot that not all the blue chips were eingre tifany's surged 11fter lifting itforecast sed on strg second qrt sal of its ltle blue box goods. >> "ew york time is reortingaied outbanks are ipping away at their mountains of de. taing the lead and pang back feder owe' morgansany, goldmansac. toppg th st, fray's uatedunempymentigures for the month of ugust. due out tuesy, the instute r suly nagement manufacting index. tha numb is spkd to sh signs of growth,omethin hav't seen i nths mbarss police in florida, a bgl returned to the sce of his crim thisman made o wth awalt, watch and vid gme stem. unable to cry a 1

-pound screenhe carried it back. that robb ceacknd grabd th t that he left. e pice hav w offere t home owner at theylay for that tv. > tir miss res, little aguersbate, and jay cuter returns to defer for some revenge. do'took now b t san fraisco gan hve slamd their wayn a peant ra. yrarly morng orts adlin a strahtahead. whle much ofhe country is geing taste of fall, still wahing the hot weather t st and he fireorast for l.a. yo regionalorect is comin up. u're wating "ely today."

good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. >> i'm barbara harrison. good morning. straight ahead on "news 4 today," it's the end of summer for thousands of maryland students. what every parent needs to know as kids prepare to head back to class. >> plus, a series of brazen

robberies has a local university on alert. what police are urging students to do to ensure their safety. >> a health alert during these tough economic times. od mornig. if you'rjust wakg up, this i"early tay." i sport t san fncco ants are havin n,o e thr fans. at'shat being in th thi of things can dofor a am. rs nbc's fre ggin wth a rly lokt allo spts headlis. good morng. withall es on the .l. wt, it's ea to forget about the surging giants, but noanymore. enteria p t gantsn top witharand sm in he seventh. gian win 9 a tie the roces for the wld card ad in the nl. pitchedompleteame

o-hitte bry retidhe he face if the roysere any go, bra wod be aure shot cy oung a mvp wner. he pick u his 13h win, nk the mariners, 3-0. jay cuer me h first trip back to deerin being trded. was booedll nht long. he silencedhe cro in the seond arter. ars bt the broncos 277. golf, final rnd othe arkl's. missed. at openedhe door f heat o the tough -fteror the win. e holds off tirnd theield win the barkley's. vi president joe bin o hand or theittleeague championship. bottofour, two onor gratt, rbsingleo right lifornijump on p, 4-3. fenseti wi hampnships. taipei rlid.

inning endi dole pay cha sta cmeack fr thredo w the littleeague wod series, 6-3 nally, che outthis cat om th padres/marlins gam mirez, shot right. lefthis feet, made a divin gr. agratrab but not engh for the dres. th lost it, 4. th's yrarly look at spor "eay today i'm fred ggin. >>hank yo fred. did the two horror vies debuting tis weeken canl each oth o? urear morning entertainme hdlin a straight ahea plus t bgest lite cit in eorldjust dicoveedomatoes. ou're wahi "earltoday."

>> wcome back isonday morning. i have somethi ry imessive to sho you. this isurricane jimen catery4, 145-mile-per-ho wid rrane. this theajaf caliia, texas, mexican coastlin thisstrmis expted t head to the resor inabo s lucas. hurricane wches are up. cary situaon fornyone on that smal pinsu.

on the earnseboard,ain in charlotte. ra er vrginia beach. mef thelds wil spread to the d. area in philadelphia. ut thera shouldtouth of you. also thunderstor onhe fro where the coo aireetshe hot rn avannah,al has see and atlanta. wpxittsburgh, pesylvania, trvel back i titoee pristoc creures thatroam the earth at t carnegie museu of natur histy, yo easte event othday. >> getting in thlastbi of ducation tripshat youan befor school, rit? ll rht. thnk you,bill. > earlyook this morning adlines in tertnment. it los if 3-dill be mandary chnoly. the te being stalk by death, finaldestation, deted number 1 with a much betterh eected $28.3

milln. qutitarantino's ingorgeous batardslipped t seetar afr 10days its ened$73.8 million. numer wento the other rror debut, b zome's quelredo dr17.4 million elsewhenbc "today"howas a new corrpondent with white hou experience she's lved there she hasn't rked there. formerirstdauger jen haeger, dghter of fmer esidenteor w bus will conibutg sries oncea month to tv 'stv's topated tv ooam. th27-year-ol teher first xton isxpect to be about education. certain welcomeer contritions. >> it'still strange hring jenna aer. juhanged h nae, g marrd recenty. the question, da would you change yo nae?

>>f my fatheras apresident, i tnk i wou probabl kep . yo probl would get se perks ifour last name was kennedy,ouwodn'tant to whang it >> i think when you havehe resideial pull u take what you can anyy. >>th comes from reno, nevada, whe kids tookto t treets f one massive food fight. peoplee seeing red during th tomato iugurevt. they hurl th back and forth until eryone blanketed in th tomato sae. for a 0 fee that we to nr resrch. participantsad access to ,000 pound of totoe and linseo spl sler i wa gog to makfun of it uil you saidt was for charity. i was going to say it was just a opy. some tngs you shouldn't py. but goodor them. >> or a wastef good food but it's pbably od to get

rid of i anyway. i'm dan klffler. ts our time is 4:54. we have 65 delightful degrees here in the nation's capital. the final day of august 2009. summer is coming to a close. good morning. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. good morning, everyone. want to start things off as we always do with a look at traffic and weather beginning with weather. here's meteorologist tom kierein. >> well, good morning. montgomery county back to school this morning and off to a cloudy arstarararhe the region. shouldn't have any yy getting off to work and school is morning. on ra rnheut da southern maryland, southern st. heading to thethegini a n heaning to the ertaeratures are ceain 67eratures are c w nno i now 67 in mid-60s montgomery, id-60s montgomery faxrfai, fai prince george's,rlgtinon counties. highs today only in the 70s. details on the forecast in just

a couple of minutes. st tuned. >> heading back to school. barbara harrison back to work. >> good to be back. >> nice to have you with us. >> thanks a lot. >> let's go to jerry edwards. he's looking at the roadways. >> barbara, joe, tom, good morning. barbara, good to see you. good to have you back with us. now we feel normal around here. >> great. >> let's see how we're doing. back to school. watch out for the youngsters. american legion bridge traffic finishing up the overnight road work, should find the lanes open. uneven pavement both ways. elsewhere out at the wilson bridge, no concerns. northeast looking good. back to you. >> glad you're feeling normal. >> i'm trying. >> why be normal? >> here's a look at some of the top stories happening today. it's the end of summer in montgomery county because kids are waking u now bright and early for the first day of school. we'll have a live report in just minutes. >> a massive wildfire is threatening thousands of homes in northern california this morning. the fire's already consumed more than 60 square miles and destroyed 18 homes and businesses.

two firefighters were also killed when their vehicle rolled off a mountain side as they were battling the flames. >> and it is back to work today for president obama following a week long vacation on martha's vineyard. the first family returned to washington last night and now that the president is back, of course, his top priority will be passing health care reform. the first family plans to spend the labor day weekend at camp david. >> the days of being interrupted by pesky automated phone call's about to come to an end. after today, the federal trade commission will prohibit recorded commercial telemarketing calls, also known as robocalls. the new rules do not include calls like flight updates and charity. >> after lining the streets of washington for his funeral, people are now lining up to walk past the grave site of senator edward kennedy. >> flowers and heartfelt condolences filled arlington national cemetery over the weekend as hundreds of people came to pair think respects.

news 4's michael flynn was there. >> reporter: within just hours of this burial at arlington national cemetery, the public had its first chance to visit the grave site of senator ted kennedy. people sometimes waited more than half an hour in the heat to see the simple marker and white cross. many took photos as a lasting remembrance of the man they admired. >> i was proud to be from massachusetts. >> reporter: virginia war lock now lives in warlg ton. she felt a close connection to ted kennedy and appreciated his commitment to public service. >> i think i have -- the ideals he bestowed in the kids. >> reporter: this man brought his kids to see the grave and the final resting places of his brothers, president john f. kennedy and senator robert f. kennedy. >> his life made a difference in other lives. that's what really counts, when you show love and concern for your fellow man, more than anything else, more than wealth,

more than material possessions. >> there was no doubt that we were going to be here this day, the first day it happened. >> reporter: this woman also thought it was important that her kids be here, too, and pay their respects to the man known as the lion of the senate. >> trying to teach them that, as he said, you know, you have to go forward. that they're the generation that has to do it. they have to understand that lesson. >> reporter: at arlington national cemetery, michael flynn, news 4. >> to read more about the life and legacy of senator ted kennedy, visit our website at nbcwashington.com. >> and stay with us, everyone. "news 4 today" continues at 5:00 a.m. cool days, school days, back